The intelligence community is warning that key agencies may be politicized under a second Trump administration as the 2024 election approaches after it tried to discredit the Hunter Biden laptop story and pushed a now-debunked dossier about the former president, Politico reported on Monday.
Former President Donald Trump could politicize the intelligence community through who he appoints and removes as well as demanding adherence to his agenda, the 18 former Trump officials and analysts claimed to Politico. The FBI welcomed the now-discredited Steele Dossier alleging Trump had ties to Russia and 51 former intelligence officials signed onto a letter saying Hunter Biden’s now-authenticated laptop was Russian disinformation shortly before the 2020 presidential election. (RELATED: Ex-Intel Officials Who Signed The Infamous Hunter Biden Laptop Letter Keep Landing Gigs With The Biden Admin)
The Daily Caller News Foundation authenticated a key email from Hunter Biden’s laptop in October 2020 after obtaining a copy of the device from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The New York Post first reported on the laptop on Oct. 14, 2020, and the 51 former intelligence officials signed and published the letter casting doubt on it five days afterward.
The intelligence community, worried about politicization under a second Trump term? That’s rich. Who knew the intel community was now hiring comedians.
— Nicholas Giordano (@PasReport) February 26, 2024
The outlet granted a portion of the former Trump officials anonymity to evade causing pushback in response to their remarks and share experiences openly, but some are outspoken critics and expressed their views publicly.
A large portion of the 18 former Trump officials and analysts emphasized their decision to come forward was due to their belief that media coverage is not proportionate to how much of a threat Trump is to transforming the intelligence community, according to Politico.
“He wants to weaponize the intelligence community. And the fact is you need to look with a 360 degree perspective. He can’t just cherry pick what he wants to hear when there are so many U.S. adversaries and countries that don’t wish the U.S. well,” Fiona Hill, a leading Russia adviser on Trump’s National Security Council and critic of the former president, told Politico. “If he guts the intel on one thing, he’ll be partially blinding us.”
Anonymous former senior intelligence officials asserted that Trump will corrupt the intelligence community through firings and appointments in statements to Politico.
“Trump intends to go after the intelligence community,” one former senior intelligence official told Politico. “He started that process before and he’s going to do it again. Part of that process is to root out people and to punish people.”
Some of the former officials and analysts are still in contact with the former president, according to the outlet.
“Over time, if they’re truly intent on putting pliable people in top positions, you just have an eventual replacement of enough people where you have true corruption at that institution,” another told Politico.
However, Trump’s campaign cited the examples of the Steele Dossier and Hunter Biden laptop letter among examples of intelligence community weaponization against the former president.
“President Trump has been under assault ever since he announced his campaign in 2016,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told the DCNF. “From spying on his campaign, Russiagate, the Russia collusion hoax, the debunked Steele dossier, and the 51 intelligence officials wrongly ignoring Hunter Biden’s laptop from Hell, the establishment has been trying to meddle in elections because they simply can’t stand voters choosing a candidate who puts America First.”
Trump is currently leading Biden by 2.1 points in a RealClearPolitics national average of polls.
The FBI insisted that the intelligence community incorporate the Steele Dossier in a report of foreign meddling in the 2016 election, according to Politico.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio hinted Wednesday that the Department of Justice is operating under a double standard after it indicted an FBI informant who allegedly provided false evidence of corruption involving Biden, while letting Christopher Steele, a former operative of the Secret Intelligence Service, off the hook for his dossier that was used to try and remove Trump from office.
The FBI “dug their own grave” by promoting the Steele Dossier, one former intelligence official told Politico.
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